Wednesday, November 18, 2015

THE Eaton Magoon Jr.

So I'm watching a rerun of the old "To Tell The Truth" series, because there is just so much Paris news that I can stomach.
It's from about 1961.
Don Ameche is one of the panelists.
Bud Collyer is promoting and plugging Ameche's new Broadway musical, "Thirteen Daughters".
Now, I have prided myself in knowing everything there is to know about every Broadway musical, and who appeared in them.
I had never heard of "Thirteen Daughters".
I knew about "Silk Stockings" the Cole Porter show he starred in, and "Goldilocks" which had Elaine Strich and a wonderful Leroy Anderson score. And "Henry, Sweet Henry" which was an adaptation of "The World Of Henry Orient", with a nice score by Bob Merrill.
They all had Ameche.
But "Thirteen Daughters"? I was drawing a blank.
But the Internet didn't let me down.
I did a search. I learned that it took place in Hawaii in the late 1800's, and had book, music, and lyrics by one Eaton Magoon, Jr.
It also contains a song called "Puka,Puka Pants". Apparently not a highlight, at least according to Walter Kerr, who reviewed it.
This all begs the question "How do you raise the money for a piece of drivel like this?" How do you get Don Ameche to star in it?"
But somehow the money was raised and Don Ameche was roped into it, and spent the evenings speaking in pidgin English, with his eyebrows taped down.
It ran 28 performances before they had to fumigate the theatre.
This led me to check out Eaton Magoon Jr.'s other credits if he in fact had any.
One other credit: In the early 1970's, Magoon resurfaced by providing the book, music, and lyrics for another musical about Hawaii in the 1800s.
It was called "Heathen!"
This one didn't have no Don Ameche.
It didn't have anybody that I had heard of.
This begs the question "Did he have the nerve to go back to any of the original investors of "Thirteen Daughters" for another
go-round?
"Heathen" folded after opening night, unanimously slammed by the critics.
How the hell did he raise the money for this one?
This one baffled me.
So, in desperation, I called the only expert on Hawaii that I know. my sister Leslie.
She has spent half her life living in Hawaii.
I held out very little hope that she could help me, but I took a shot.
She never heard of Eaton Magoon Jr.
But after a minute or two she recalled the name Magoon as someone who was a member of her health club.
She did a search, and learned that the Magoons were one of the wealthiest families in the Hawaiian islands.
Old man Magoon could have easily sprung for whatever it cost to mount a Broadway musical in 1961, or 1972.
So there you have it.
They were both total vanity productions.
And I consider my knowledge broadened.

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I've been living in Hawaii for over 25 years and one of the handful of pure people i've met was Eaton (Bob) Magoon Jr, he's the biggest gentelmen you could ever meet, to this day we are still very close friends.He became my mentor, and i dont believe he relizes the inpack he had on my life. I love him dearly and learned so much from him.As for his musicals, someone from the mainland or anywhere else in the world would probley not like the shows, one would have to know the locale way of thinking to understand the creativelybrilliance of the man behind them shows.He opened up the arms of the islands to the rest of the world, unfortatly thier were not enough takers. He did lose a large chunk of his wealth on them shows, but when your doing something for thr love of it, the money really doesnt matter. Love you Bob, your Huckaberry Tim.

I met him in thre 80s on my way to New York What a cool and interesting Man indeed .I was sharng my travels stories with my family and his name came up .Wonder if he can remember me ? 'Marius' Asst Stage Manager (Civic Theatre Johannesburg) at the time

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Hi. I am, according to my Wikipedia entry,(which I did not create) a noted television writer, playwright, screenwriter, and occasional actor.
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